WINNIPEG – Minus the four Olympians, the Winnipeg Jets got back on the ice on Tuesday afternoon in preparation for the stretch run of the NHL season.
Josh Morrissey, Kyle Connor, Connor Hellebuyck and Nino Niederreiter all will be playing in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, and their Jets teammates have been watching.
“To finally see NHL players back in the Olympics, with best on best, and to see the game in that form, at that speed, with that intensity, it’s been great to watch,” said Adam Lowry.
“And I’m looking forward to watching the qualification rounds and the next few games coming up here.”
Some good news came from Italy as Morrissey, who has missed the last two games with an unspecified injury, skated with Colton Parayko at Canada’s practice a sign that he could be good to go against Czechia. His normal defence partner, Dylan DeMelo says he feels bad for Morrissey having to miss time.
“Yeah, it sucks, for sure. I know how much it's meant to him to be on that team and to be to be playing,” said DeMelo.
“He's a big part of that team, too. So, I hope he's back next game and can do his thing out there.”
It’s because of the Olympics that the NHL has had to jam a lot of hockey in a small pocket of time. Winnipeg has been fortunate as they had a five-day break at Christmas and now this extended time away.
“It was great, nice mental reset. Wasn't really a physical reset for me with the two kiddos trying to chase them around, but it was. It was great for just to get away,” said DeMelo.
“It's been a crazy year with the schedule and the volume we've had to deal with, obviously, to be able to get a chance to recharge the mind, I think it's probably more important than the body, unless you're obviously dealing with something.”
Jets captain Adam Lowry has spent the entire season trying to get back to form after he had hip surgery in the summer. Lowry has three consecutive seasons of 30 plus points and that streak is obviously in jeopardy, but the Olympic break will be beneficial to him.
“Getting back and having some practice time, coming off the surgery and going into the schedule, there wasn’t a lot of practice time, there weren't a lot of days off to get in the gym and strengthen (the hip). To be able to give it some rest and get some good workouts in and to get a full week of practice before we’re back, I’m just looking forward to getting back and trying to build on my game,” said Lowry.
“I felt like coming out of the Christmas break that my game was starting to come. The last month, I felt like I’ve been able to build it a little more each game and things like that. It’s going to be important to keep doing that and try and play my best hockey down the stretch.”
Neal Pionk and Haydn Fleury took part of practice today, but both were in non-contact jerseys. Colin Miller skated on Monday and Scott Arniel said he took today off and is hoping to have Miller back on Wednesday.
Scott Arniel and the coaching staff are used to this type of compressed schedule thanks to the 4 Nations Face-Off last year. The Jets are 11 points out of a playoff spot and the three-game road west coast road trip will be huge in terms of their chances to make a big push.
"So, being able to do this this week (of practice) is important for us. This is not a luxury like we had last year, we are running into this last 26 game chasing and every point matters, obviously, it has the last couple of months but this is going to be big for us coming out of the gate going on a three game road trip," said Arniel.
"And to be able to get out and work on specific things right now, after game 56, is a rarity. We have to take advantage of it and that is what we talked about."
